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PEEP and the Big Wide World: Windy Day Play

Observe students conducting real-life investigations outside on a windy day in this live-action video from PEEP and the Big Wide World. You can’t see wind, but you can feel it and you can see what it’s doing. Learn that wind is air in motion and how it can make some things move but not others. Students can use the live-action video to observe, identify, and describe the characteristics of wind and the effect wind has on different things.

To view the Background Essay, Student Activities, and Teaching Tips for this video, go to Support Materials below. This resource was developed through WGBH’s Bringing the Universe to America’s Classrooms project, in collaboration with NASA. Click here for the full collection of resources.

Have students participate in the activities below to reinforce and support an understanding that the wind is moving air, and that it is constantly moving and changing. You can present these activities before or after viewing the video.

Summary: Students take an outdoor wind walk and explore the phenomena. They record findings and share their observations with the whole group.

Note: You may want to take pictures of students’ outdoor observations and create a Wind Wall in the classroom to showcase evidence of wind and the students’ ideas.

You can carry out this activity on a day when weather conditions show evidence of any wind blowing. Take students outside to explore wind. Once outside, gather students together and have them describe wind. Elicit that wind is moving air.

Have volunteers share an experience they had outside on a windy day. Ask: What did you see? What did the wind feel like? Could you hear the wind?

Then show students a folded scarf. Ask them what they think will happen if you hold it by one end raise it above your head. Demonstrate holding it over your head and discuss students’ predictions. Ask: What caused the scarf to move?

Take students on a “Wind Walk.” Have them describe the wind and how it affects some things but not others. Record students’ ideas. You can ask questions such as:

How do you know the wind is blowing?

Can you name something the wind is moving? What would happen to that object if the wind stopped blowing? If it got stronger?

Why do you think the [grass] is moving but the [basketball] is not moving?

What other evidence do you see that tells about the weather today?

What information do you still want to in order to learn about wind?

Allow time for students to explore the wind on their own. As students explore, spark curiosity with ideas you recorded from their discussions, or new ideas such as:

I wonder if the wind will blow your scarf if you hold it down by your side.

Why do you think the streamers move faster now than a few minutes ago?

If you stood behind the tree and held up the scarf, I wonder if the scarf would move.

Why do you think everyone’s scarf is moving in the same direction?

Allow time for students to share their observations. Then ask: Did your observations make you think differently about wind? How?

TIP: On another day, you can extend the learning by having student pairs create a new tool they can use to explore wind. Allow students to carry out observations using their new tools on a windy day and record their findings. Compare their findings to their earlier observations.

Summary: Students explore wind and how it makes some things move but not others. They record and compare their findings.

Preparation: Download the “Will It Move?” handout and make one copy for each pair of students. Create a large chart titled “Will It Move?” to record students’ ideas.

Note: If the wind is not blowing, have students identify and predict things that the wind moves. Record responses and refer to the list when you complete the activity on a different day that is windy.

Begin the activity by having students look out the window and describe the weather. Elicit evidence of wind moving things. Record students’ ideas in the correct section on the “Will It Move?” chart on display. Repeat with things that don’t move in the wind.

Have each student choose a classroom object to take outside and observe in the wind. Have students make predictions about their object and elicit information to support their predictions, such as wind strength, weight of the object, or position of the object in relation to the ground. Take students outside.

Once outside, pair students and distribute the clipboards and recording charts. Help students write their names on the chart.

Student pairs take turns observing each object in the wind and recording (by drawing, writing, or marking) in the correct section on their charts. Encourage them to observe and compare what happens to each object. You can circulate and spark students’ curiosity with ideas such as:

I wonder what would happen if you changed the position of the [object].

I wonder what would happen if you put the [object] behind the building.

Once indoors, have students share charts and describe findings.

Note: You may want to extend the learning with another outdoor observation time. Take students outside with their objects again. Working as a group, students take turns holding up their item. Classmates predict whether the item will or will not move in the wind and why they think that. Then they observe whether the item moves or not. Group the objects that move/do not move in the wind and discuss their predictions.

Every day, people wake up and look out the window to see what the weather is like. Weather plays an important role in our daily lives. It helps us decide what clothes to wear and plan what activities we might do for the day. Would you plan a picnic in the park if you looked outside and it was pouring rain? Weather can even affect the way people feel—how do you feel on a dark, stormy day or on a warm, sunny day?

Weather is a mix of different factors, such as temperature (how hot and cold it is), wind (the movement of air), precipitation (water that falls to Earth), and the sky (sunlight and clouds). These four factors are constantly changing––from minute to minute, day to day, and season to season. The intensity, duration, and rate of change of each factor are all important in describing the weather. For example, a fierce storm could have heavy rain, gusty winds, thunder, and lightning and cause dangerous conditions in which to be outside. However, a spring shower could have less rain, gentle winds, and no lightning and create conditions for fun outdoor playtime. Sometimes just small shifts in the four factors explain the difference in everyday weather conditions in particular areas or at particular times.

Severe weather conditions occur all over the planet and can last a number of minutes or a number of days. A small rainstorm can turn into a dangerous lightning storm, or a light snowstorm can turn into a blinding blizzard, in a short amount of time. These weather events can affect people’s lives in substantial ways, such as interrupting travel plans, damaging power lines, and even causing people to change the way they live because of destruction caused by weather. Meteorologists study patterns in different types of weather to learn about weather and prepare for daily and hazardous conditions in local areas and across the planet.

Use the following suggestions to engage students with this video and other activities related to exploring wind.

About PEEP: The video “Windy Day Play” is from the animated series PEEP and the Big Wide World. Each episode of the PBS series introduces a science concept as it follows three curious and adventurous friends who love to explore the world together—Peep is a chicken, Chirp is a robin, and Quack is a duck. Along with animated videos, PEEP and the Big Wide World also has short video clips, like Windy Day Play, that have real-life kids exploring a science concept such as wind.

Help students identify how to observe the presence of a phenomenon that they cannot physically see (moving air).

Activate students’ prior knowledge about wind.

Engaging students with the phenomena

Ask students to reflect on times they have experienced wind. What did they feel or hear, and what did they observe about the sky, wind, temperature, or precipitation?

Provide students with the opportunity to observe the effects of wind through an outdoor exploration.

You may want to allow students to carry out their own investigations about wind before viewing the video. After viewing, students can expand on their initial exploration using information learned from the video.

Encouraging science practices

Create additional tools to use to observe the effect of wind, like streamers or bubbles.

Develop a method for comparing the strength of wind to qualitatively describe different wind strength/speed.

Discussion questions

Before they watch the video, ask students to describe what they know about wind (and how they know it). Encourage students to describe different conditions.

Have students describe how wind is different in different types of weather.

Ask students to describe how wind affects the way we experience different types of weather.

Does wind always blow in the same direction or at the same speed/strength?

After students watch the video, ask them how it confirmed their ideas about wind or made them think differently about wind.

Ask students what other questions they still have about wind. Work with students to help them think of ways to find answers to their questions. Follow their lead in finding answers and be available to prompt them when they get stuck.